Misplaced
by Not Just a Nerd
Summary: Sometimes he almost thinks that he is not evil, just lonely. Someone must have misplaced the words. DAMON/ELENA. Multi-chapter.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries**

**Prologue**

* * *

So he thinks about Katherine, Katherine, Katherine, Katherine all day. He goes off killing random people in the evening- a reaction to his action of thinking. He hits the bar and gets drunk at night. He somehow manages to come back to his house and crash into his bed.

He wakes up the next morning with a massage headache, and for an instant, remembers what it is like to feel like a vulnerable human. He rubs his forehead with his hands, and that's when he realizes it's gone. The lapis lazuli ring is missing from his finger.

He can vaguely remember taking it off somewhere in the house in the middle of his drunken senselessness, but he is not sure where. So he searches left, he searches right, he searches up, he searches down, but to no avail.

A sense of fear sets in immediately, and that itself scares him, because Damon Salvatore is _never_ scared, not since he lost Katherine.

He tugs at his hair in frustration. It has to be somewhere! He searches left, he searches right, he searches up, he searches down, but still no avail.

Finally, he sits down in the couch in the living room, and finally, he is _considering_ asking for someone's help. And that gives him hope that maybe this is some kind of alternate reality.

* * *

She is somewhat shocked when she sees that he is calling her instead of just barging into her room and invading her privacy. But it's early in the morning, and the phone keeps ringing, and she knows that something is wrong. "Damon?" she asks uncertainly.

"Elena." He chirps sweetly, as if this thing is a daily routine. "Good morning."

She groans. "Please tell me this isn't one of your sick jokes. Tell me you didn't call me to wish me good morning." A part of her wishes that it _is _a joke, because if it isn't, the problem _has to be_ huge. She feels a bit anxious about her beloved Stefan, and ignores that stupid part of her that is worried about Damon.

"Sadly, no." He acknowledges. He bites his lips, and swallows his pride. "I need your help." He spits out the words like they leave a bad taste in his mouth, and honestly, he thinks they do. He is _so not _doing this _ever _again.

She sits up in her bed, because she must have heard something wrong. Damon Salvatore is asking for someone's help- _her_ help? This _has to be_ a huge practical joke. "With what? Sucking blood? Turning someone? Oh wait, maybe we are going on a killing spree?" she retorts sarcastically. It still shocks her how Damon can make her so cranky, but hey, it's morning! And she is slowly getting used to this side of her.

He rolls his eyes, slightly annoyed with her. "Ouch. I didn't know you had such low opinion about me." He chuckles darkly, before he turns serious again. "I lost my ring." He states bluntly.

And that's when she is starting to acknowledge the fact that she is worried. Without his ring, he can't go out in the sunlight without being harmed. "How did you lose it? Where did you lose it?" she demands immediately, because if the ring falls in the wrong hands… she doesn't even want to think about it.

"Funny thing, I lost it in my own house." He lets out a dry, humorless laugh. "I took it off last night and I can't find it now."

Her eyes widen in disbelief. Suddenly he starts acting like a 5-year old kid! "_Why _did you take it off?"

"Geez, I wish I had asked myself that when I was drunk." He snarls.

She grimaces at his tone. She is not the only one who's cranky today. Then again, when is Damon sweet? There is still one question that bothers her. "Why do you want _my _help?"

"Because my options are limited?" he reasons. "That brother of mine will be happy to know that I'm locked in my own house." He is still not sure why he wanted her help, but he is willing to stick to this reason, for now at least, at least till they solve the bigger problem at hand. "Plus, you girls are better at this stuff."

She smirks as he admits that she is superior to him in something. "Fine, I'll help you. I'll get there in the evening."

"Evening!" he almost yells at her, stunned to hear the words. "Elena! I can't stay at home all day!"

"Some of us have a thing called school." She snaps. "I'll get there as soon as possible!"

He still wonders how she masters the courage to snap at an evil vampire like him. And he still wonders why he doesn't do anything about it. It must be because she is a dead-ringer of Katherine.

He almost begins the argument about _how in the rotten hell _school is more important than this, but instead, he sighs at defeat. It must be the hangover. "Fine! Get here quickly…Have fun at school, _kid_."

He hangs up before she can protest, and when she calls back, he doesn't pick up the call. He should be worried that she will change her mind about helping him, but it's Elena, and he knows she'll always come around. Always.

* * *

His ears perk up as he hears the sound of his brother's footsteps, and he immediately shoves his hands in his pocket, before he can notice the ring is missing.

"Hey." Stefan greets, amused to see him still at home, and gives him a look of curiosity, "Are you alright?"

"Drop the act." Damon snaps coldly. "We both know you don't care."

Stefan looks like he is going to protest, like he is going to say something, but he just sighs, shakes his head, and leaves.

And so here he is, all alone in his house. Damon rolls his head back on the armrest. "This day is going to be so great!"

* * *

**A/N: That's the prologue. Let me know what you think of this. Should I continue, or just drop it? Thanks for reading :) **


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1

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**

And so here he was all alone.

The Salvatore house had never seemed larger before. Each room looked so big, so lifeless, and so empty. It was like every wall was staring at him, glaring at him, and mocking his misery, like they would echo every word he would say so many times that he'd be sick and tired of his own voice. He felt like the whole house was alive, like it was screaming at him and trying to tell him something. And he was trapped inside it for a whole long day all by himself.

He sat down inside the shelter of his living room, drinking and thinking. Apart from the dull sound of the fire burning in the fire-place, the occasional clinging of his glass of wine with the bottle, and the annoying sound of Stefan's 'play-toy' dangling in the window and dancing with the wind, everything in the house was silent. So silent that he could hear his own thoughts, and those thoughts were all surrounding the past shrouded in grey and red mist.

He took a quick chug of his wine to force the memories away, but it didn't work, his mind kept blurring and focusing on the dangerous zone of 1800s. He began walking down the lanes that he had abandoned years back; he began recollecting long forgotten memories. With every sip of his wine, distinct memories popped up. He thought about his childhood days, the time when he and Stefan were close, when they used to live together, stay together, play together, and be happy together- when he wanted an eternity with his brother and didn't think he would actually get it and hate it. He thought about the few friends he had as a child and as a teenager, and the fun they had together. He thought about his father, the things he taught him, the scolding, the love, the gifts, the pampering- everything. He thought about swims in the river and walk in the parks, and about stealing pickles from the neighbor's house_. It seemed like it was another lifetime, like it wasn't even him_! Where were those days now? The place had changed so much. His father was long dead- after killing him. His friends were resting in graves, and his brother? Did he even consider Stefan as his brother anymore?

And then when he started thinking about 1864 and the first time he saw Katherine, he decided it was enough. He needed to concentrate on something else. He strained his ears to listen to people outside. He heard a boy talking all mushy-gushy to his girlfriend. He heard two men debating over politics. He heard a woman narrating a recipe to another woman. He heard two teen girls gossiping. He heard kids cheering on other kids who were playing.

And these snap-shots of life just reminded him of all the places he had lived in, of all the people he came across, of all the people he _killed. _He didn't feel guilty- not him- but having to think about all these was… disturbing. Traveling here and there, he never stayed at a place too long, never had friends- never wanted friends- never had a home where he felt safe, or a family to care for. He _never_ cared about _any _of these things.

But being locked in this gigantic house all alone, it made him feel… _lonely_.

And there was the thing. He was evil. He wasn't lonely- all he wanted-needed was himself. If he _was _lonely, it was because of his own _choice, _not because of his fate! It didn't make him feel miserable! But this situation did. It made him feel like there was a whole world outside that was out of his reach, like there was a world that didn't even care if he existed, but he did care about this world, he did want to go out there and live. And it was making him think- was the wrong adjective used to describe him, were the words _misplaced_?

His hand subconsciously touched the finger on which his ring usually was. He hoped Elena would get there soon, before he started thinking too much.

* * *

**A/N: I'll be switching tenses in each chapter, I hope that's okay. The angst has begun. We'll get to Dalena, don't worry :)**

**Thank you so much for all the hits/reviews/alerts/favorites! You guys are so encouraging! I hope you like this chapter! Let me know. Thanks for reading :) **


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